


Strawberries (5 times Kit wanted to kiss Ty and one time they did kiss)

by jnicweb



Category: The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: 5 Times, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-10-21 03:46:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10677024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jnicweb/pseuds/jnicweb
Summary: When Ty gets upset, or flustered, he tends to blurt. In this case, "strawberries." Unsurprisingly, Kit is the cause of most of these word-vomits. Basically what it says on the tin.





	1. Love Actually

Ty should have known that a movie with the title “Love Actually” would be horribly romantic. They had chosen it because it had Martin Freeman in it, and they had recently seen The Hobbit and loved it. Also Kit had a secret obsession with the Harry Potter films, in particular Alan Rickman, so they couldn’t pass up the chance to see both actors in one movie.

Unfortunately, neither of them looked up the summary, so were completely unprepared for what awaited them.

After seeing a part with Martin Freeman and being thoroughly embarrassed and scarred for life, Ty had paused the movie and asked Kit if he wanted to continue, or find something else to watch. Seeing as Alan Rickman hadn’t shown up yet, Kit wanted to go on, but Ty was reluctant to see more of the female physique. However, as usual, Kit got his way and Ty played the movie, praying to whatever god was paying attention, that they would not be interrupted by one of his siblings, most of all Julian. He didn’t know how he would explain their choice of movie. He didn’t quite know himself.

Ty also didn’t quite know what had possessed him to want to continue with the movie after they had seen the first part of Martin Freeman’s love story. Perhaps it was the fact that Kit was so excited to see Alan Rickman that they plunged deeper into the Christmas film. Or perhaps it was the fact that Ty was enjoying simply being next to Kit.

Either way, Ty had pressed play, and had to deal with the consequences.

And it seemed that Kit was having no trouble with the amount of nudity on the screen.

Ty’s face was unbelievably red and hot and he shifted uncomfortably on the sofa, trying desperately not to look at Kit and display his red cheeks. The love and gushy-ness oozing from the actors was making him nervous and vaguely scared. The way their eyes seemed to light up at the sight of their loved ones made him scoff on the outside, but made his heart heavy. He knew such things didn’t happen in the real world and that kind of love didn’t really exist, but the characters made it so real. He felt the love they had for each other and hoped that it wasn’t oozing into Kit as well, because that would be extremely girly and awkward.

Also the nude breasts were making it hard to concentrate on anything other than not looking at Kit.

Eventually Ty had had enough and risked a glance over at Kit.

His face was maybe even redder than Ty’s had been, and he too was shifting in his seat, trying not draw too much attention to his uncomfortableness. Ty immediately felt better knowing that he wasn’t the only one dealing with the awkwardness of the movie.

He turned his head to the side to ask Kit again if he wanted to pause the movie, and found himself looking at Kit’s eyes instead of the side of his face.

Ty’s throat closed up and he discovered he couldn’t get any words out of his mouth. This wasn’t a new feeling for him, but it was a new cause. Kit never made him feel like this. In fact, Kit was the only one who didn’t make Ty nervous about words and speaking. This was a new thing, and Ty didn’t like it.

He tried desperately to force something out of his mouth, but nothing came. He had absolutely nothing to say. Ty’s eyes darted down to Kit’s lips to see if he too was having the same problem with speaking, and found that they were slightly open and very pink. He suddenly found himself unable to look away, not wanting to miss anything that came out of Kit’s lips.

Ty started to lean forwards, entranced by the small opening between Kit’s lips. He wondered what would fit between them. It was so small, he doubted a flat penny could even slip past. He tilted his head to get a better angle of the opening, and his body shifted against Kit’s. He felt more than heard Kit’s small intake of breath.

Shooting his eyes back up to Kit’s, Ty looked confused about the cause of his sharp inhale. Kit’s eyes were almost closed, and his body was stiff and unmoving like a statue. Worried about his friend, Ty reached his hand up to touch Kit’s face. At the slight contact, Kit’s eyes shot open and his body arched forward to meet Ty’s. Kit’s eyes focused on Ty’s lips.

Silently, Ty asked with his eyes what was wrong. Kit was immobile and emotionless, his eyes still trained on Ty’s lips. Ty wondered if Kit was wondering the same thing he had been a few moments ago. Wanting to reassure his friend, Ty opened his mouth to try to talk. And found that his throat didn’t want to cooperate.

Kit started to lean forward with his head, coming closer and closer to Ty’s face. Kit had once told Ty that closeness made humans more trusting and feel safer, so he imagined this was what Kit was trying to do. But he didn’t know why. Kit was completely safe on the sofa, and Ty thought he trusted him, so he didn’t know why Kit was leaning closer to him.

Unfortunately, Ty never found out why Kit was moving closer.

“Oh! Fuck wank bugger shitting arse head and hole!” Came from the television.

Immediately the moment was lost. Kit shot backwards so fast Ty’s head spun. Ty’s hands were still in mid-air from where they were caressing Kit’s hair.

Kit returned to the movie, but Ty found he couldn’t bring himself to even pretend to care about anything other than the boy sitting next to him.

“Strawberries.” Ty blurted. Damn it all to hell he always did this in awkward situations. Luckily Kit wasn’t paying too much attention to anything but the movie, so he didn’t comment on the weird choice of words.

Ty wanted to ask what was bothering Kit, but didn’t want to accidentally say strawberries again, so he gently laid his hand on Kit’s knee. And then watched Kit recoil from his touch. It was slight, but it was enough. Hurt, Ty removed his hand and turned fully to face Kit. His face was red and Ty could tell that he was very uncomfortable. Ty shifted closer to Kit’s body, hoping that his closeness would comfort Kit, but it did the opposite. Kit got up and walked out of the room without a second glance back at Ty.

Ty was left by himself wondering what he did wrong that made Kit act so strange and why they never finished the end of Love Actually.


	2. Cooking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ty and Kit try to make pancakes...it doesn't end well.

“How the hell does Julian make this look so easy?” Kit muttered. Ty suppressed a laugh at his best friend in a pink polka-dotted apron, cursing at a cookbook meant for children “5 and up.”  
“Well, for starters, he doesn’t feel the need to wear a girly apron.” Ty tried to hold it in, he really did, but found that he couldn’t. Not after all the times Kit had made fun of Ty for wearing his Panic at the Disco shirt and calling it “emo.”  
“I resent that. And I resent you.” Kit said, brandishing his spatula like a sword.  
“And I resent…your mom.” Ty had never been the best at comebacks.  
Thankfully Kit had stopped trying to respond to Ty after these comebacks, so the conversation switched back to the maddening one of pancakes and cooking.  
“Now, really, how does Julian do this? I can’t figure out what this damn little engraving is or what it’s supposed to mean and what the hell is the difference between ‘cake flour’ and ‘double 0 flour?’” Kit asked, throwing his hands in the air, exasperated and flustered.  
“Um, Kit, turn the measuring spoon the other way.” Ty said, trying not to get annoyed already at the hopeless boy.  
“Oh, it said ‘tsp,’” Kit said, screwing up his face and trying to distinguish the tiny lettering on the spoon, “What the hell does that mean?” Ty had noticed that Kit got especially swear-y when annoyed and frustrated.  
“Kit, it stands for ‘teaspoon’ and it’s used to measure things, you dumbass.” Ty explained, giving up on being patient.  
“Oh, that makes sense.” Kit said simply, not picking up on the irritation present in Ty’s voice. Ty ground his teeth and rolled his eyes. He used to long for the day Kit relied on him for help, but now that it was here, Ty couldn’t wait for Kit to be independent again because Kit was a hopeless baby when it came to cooking and he didn’t take directions well and he didn’t know anything about measuring or stirring or really anything that was in the kitchen.  
“Alright, where’s the cream cheese?” Kit asked suddenly. Ty sighed and threw his head back as if to say why, why did it have to be me he took a liking to?  
“Kit, why do you need cream cheese for pancakes?” Ty asked, scared for the answer.  
“It said so in the recipe.” Kit said, as if this answer was completely ordinary and wasn’t the reason for Ty wanting to pull his hair out.  
“Look again Kit.” Ty said without emotion. He was thoroughly done with Kit in the kitchen. He didn’t care that his name was in the word, sometimes things that should make sense together, don’t. And Kit in the kitchen was one of them.  
“Oh wait a second, I don’t need cream cheese! I was looking at a recipe for frosting. Now, where did I put the little spoon.” Kit said, moving from one subject to another seamlessly. Ty rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and tried not to blow up at his friend. It wasn’t his fault Kit had never cooked a meal for himself in his life. His father had never taken him aside and taught him about making food. In fact, Kit had told Ty that his father said a kitchen was a woman’s place and that’s why they always had take-out. However, Kit had agreed without much prodding to give Julian a day off from cooking. Ty wasn’t really sure why, but he wasn’t complaining.  
“Hey, Ty, what is this used for?” Ty turned around, expecting Kit to be holding something wet and disgusting, but instead found Kit holding a whisk. Instantly all the annoyance he had previously had, disappeared as he saw Kit being confused at such a simple kitchen utensil. Never before had Ty realized the extent to which Kit had been deprived of a normal childhood. His father had refused to teach Kit about the simplest of things, and that had extended to the kitchen. The poor boy didn’t even know what a whisk was. Ty’s heart broke for the lonely boy Kit must have been, with only his father for company.  
“Kit that’s used for mixing things together. Or like, beating an egg or something like that.” Ty tried to be gracious but was scared it came out insincere.  
But he didn’t have to worry. It was Kit they were talking about.  
“Oh, okay.” Kit turned back around and continued making the pancake batter.  
Ty shook his head and turned back to the bacon he was currently burning in the pan.   
“Dang it!” Ty cursed. Kit had distracted him and made him lose his concentration and now the bacon was ruined.   
“What happened Ty?” Kit asked innocently. He had no idea the amount of stress he put on Ty. Almost as quickly as it had gone away, his anger towards Kit returned.   
“Oh just this,” Ty said angrily, holding up the burnt food for Kit to see. “Just this bacon that is beyond repair.”  
“Well we could just do pancakes for breakfast. Or we could make more bacon. Or we could-” Kit was cut off.   
“No Kit. Not everything can be fixed with your naive child-like sense of the world, okay. Sometimes you have to grow up and deal with your problems like an adult.” Ty exploded at Kit. He was so sick of dealing with Kit and his inability to think like a Shadowhunter.   
“Ty I'm sorry. I know sometimes I'm a burden and you don't want me around and I drag you down. But you're the only one who reached out to me when I first came here and you made me feel like I belonged here. I guess I foolishly thought that meant you wanted to be my friend.” Kit looked dejectedly at his batter. Ty’s heart went out to him even in his anger. Even when he was angry, Ty couldn't help wanting to comfort Kit.   
“No, Kit, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I just wanted this to be perfect for Julian and it's not really turning out the way I wanted it to.” Ty hung his head, embarrassed at how he had treated his friend.   
“Hey it's okay. I know you didn't mean it. I know how you get when you're stressed.” Kit said, automatically putting it all behind him. Ty envied the way Kit was able to forgive and forget. This incident would stay in Ty’s brain forever.   
“So, how’re the pancakes going?” Ty said, changing the subject so he wouldn’t have to dwell on his guilt and anger.  
“Not well.” Kit laughed. He gestured to the bowl and Ty peeked in.   
It was a disturbing shade of green.  
“How on earth did you do that?” Ty asked, incredulously. He didn’t know how someone managed to screw up something that much, even if they had never been in a kitchen before.   
“Well, I was following the recipe and something I used made it green, and then I tried to fix it with more flour because I thought, hey flour’s white it should get rid of the green, then I remembered what you said about following the recipe to the letter, and so I added some more of the other ingredients, but I didn’t remember which one turned it green, so I added more of it and turned it more green, and I didn’t remember how much flour I had added, so I didn’t know how much of the other ingredients I had to add, so I guessed and now it looks like concrete. And it’s green.” Kit looked at the batter like it had personally wronged him.  
Ty looked at the mess of bottles and jars and containers that Kit had failed to put away, and immediately noticed what had turned the batter green.  
“Kit, you put grapeseed oil in it.” Ty said, holding up the offending green oil for Kit to see. But instead of understanding his mistake, Kit’s eyes got even more confused and his forehead wrinkled.  
“Why can’t I do that? It said oil.” Kit looked back at the recipe to make sure he had read it correctly.  
“Kit, you can’t just use any kind of oil. There is a special oil for cooking, and different one for seasoning and another one for frying and another with different flavors for tasting. Grapeseed oil is not for cooking things like pancakes.” Ty would have thought that it was obvious from the obnoxious shade of green in the bottle, but he guessed Kit didn’t want to do too much independent thinking while trying something new.  
“Oh.” Kit looked embarrassed at his misunderstanding. “I guess I ruined the batter too.” He seemed to shrink in on himself, his shoulders hunching and his back arching to make himself smaller.  
“Hey, no worries. I think Julian kind of expected this to happen. I saw take-out being delivered a couple minutes ago.” Ty explained. “But, there is something this batter is good for.” He smiled deviously at Kit before reaching his hand into the bowl and scooping some of it in his fist.  
“Wha-oh no you don’t! Don’t you dare Ty! I’m warning you, my hair doesn’t just naturally look like this, it takes a lot of time and I’m not about to let you ruin it with the bat-” Ty splattered the batter. It slid down Kit’s face and slicked his hair into his face. Kit looked murderous.  
“Hey, Kit, calm down, it was a joke, I’m sorry okay, it was a joke I swear.” Ty started unconsciously moving away from Kit, scared of the repercussions.   
Kit’s hand dipped in the bowl and he started walking over to Ty without ever taking his eyes off the clean boy. Ty’s eyes widened as he felt the counter hit his back-he had nowhere to hide now.  
“Wait, let’s think about this, I said I’m sorry Kit, wait, just hold on I don’t-” Kit’s hand moved up to rub the batter into Ty’s carefully messed up hair. It was wet and slimy and it fell all the way down into his eyes and matted his hair to his face.  
“There, now we’re even.” Kit looked immensely smug. His handful had been much bigger than Ty’s, and as a result, Ty’s entire head was covered in the green slime while Kit’s head was only partially covered in green.  
“No, your handful was way bigger than mine.” Ty said, unable to let it go. He was used to being fair, and Kit didn’t play fair. Ever.  
“No, I think we’re pretty even.” Kit said, shaking his head like a wet dog and getting even more splatters of batter on Ty’s clothes. Ty reached into the fridge and grabbed the first thing his hand came into contact with. An egg. Perfect.  
“Oh, you’re gonna pay for that.” Ty said, laughing maniacally at Kit’s look of panic at the egg in Ty’s hands.  
“Um, I don’t think that’s fair play, do yo-” Kit’s protest was cut off at the sound of an egg cracking. He felt the revolting texture on his head and some of it dripped into his ear. Kit made an ungodly squeal that he would deny later on, and grabbed a fistful of flour to throw at Ty.  
“Hold up, that’s gonna congeal in my hair it will be a nightmare to get out-” Ty was given some of his own medicine when he felt the powder hit his face.   
“This is so on.” Ty muttered, wiping some of the flour off his eyes and running a hand through his squelching hair.   
They threw eggs, flour, oil, batter, whisks, knives (they had to practice sometime) and pretty much whatever they could get their hands on. Kit’s throws were ruthless, with his hands being bigger and therefore could pick up more of whatever he chose to throw, but Ty’s throws were deadly accurate, hitting Kit with force and power, making up for his small hands.  
“I don’t know why you don’t give up now Kit.” Ty said, hiding behind the upturned kitchen table with a broom in hand and a colander on his head. His make-shift protection wasn’t doing much for him though. He was covered in food and it kept dripping in his eyes and forcing him to break concentration in order to wipe the gunk out of his line of sight.  
Fortunately Kit wasn’t much better.  
And he was running out of ammo.  
Ty could tell that Kit was gearing up for a grand gesture. The bag of flour was a few feet from Kit’s hideout, and Ty knew that Kit was saving his ammo to protect himself as he ran out in the open to the flour bag. And Ty was ready for him.  
Just like he had anticipated, Ty soon saw movement on the outside of Kit’s table. Bouncing on his feet, Ty readied himself for the fight of his life.  
Kit shot out of the table and towards the bag faster than Ty thought was humanly possible. But Ty was ready for it.  
They met head to head a few feet away from the bag. Kit had been on the way back to his shelter when Ty intercepted him. They collided in a mess of boy and food and fell to the floor, grappling and throwing.   
Ty had thrown a particularly full fist of food in the direction of Kit’s mouth when he suddenly felt the boy beneath him start shaking. For a horrible moment Ty thought he had managed to choke Kit with the food, and immediately halted in his movements, scared at the thought of smothering Kit.  
“Oh my god, Kit, are you okay? I didn’t mean to, I’m so sorry, are you gonna be okay? What happened?” Ty lifted his chest off Kit and quickly searched his face for a sign.  
But soon Ty saw that Kit’s mouth was turned up and his eyes had the little lines that told Ty he was just laughing, not choking and crying.  
“You idiot, you scared me half to death, I thought I had killed you.” Ty huffed and beat Kit on the chest. He felt like an idiot, of course he hadn’t managed to kill Kit.  
“You just, you thought, I can’t believe you actually thought, and the look on your face oh my gosh.” Kit choked out some words in an incomprehensible babble.   
Ty glared at him and felt his cheeks redden.  
“Quit it Kit, I’m serious.” Ty said, shoving his red face into Kit’s shoulder to hide.  
“Oh come on Ty, I’m only joking.” Kit said, wrapping his arms around Ty’s body.  
Ty lifted his head up and looked Kit in the eyes, seeing the mischief and joy unveiled in them. It wasn’t often that Kit’s eyes held everything he was feeling, but when they did, Ty couldn’t stop looking. Kit was so often closed off and removed and Ty always had trouble reading him, more trouble than he did with his family.   
And even now, there was something in Kit’s gaze that made Ty’s heart race and his cheeks redden even more. It was a weird feeling, but good in a way.   
“Ty.” Kit whispered and Ty could feel the air on his lips. Somehow Ty’s hands hand found their way into Kit’s hair and Kit’s hands had rested themselves on Ty’s hips.   
Ty didn't know what was happening but he wanted it badly. He loved having Kit’s hands on his hips and feeling Kit’s hair through his fingers. He loved this closeness with Kit and feeling Kit’s air on his lips.   
“Strawberries.” He quietly whispered. Then cursed. Because strawberries didn’t make any sense in the context of this situation, and Ty always said nonsensical things when he was flustered, and he was definitely flustered right now.  
Thankfully Kit had known Ty long enough to expect these kinds of random outbursts, so he paid the word no mind, just continued to rub little circles on Ty’s hipbone.  
Ty moved his hands through Kit’s hair and felt the silky strands against his rough calloused fingers.   
As Kit inched closer and closer, Ty felt something sliding through his own hair.   
And then watched it splat onto Kit’s face.   
“Oh my god.” Ty whispered and the moment was lost.   
Kit’s face was red and gooey from the egg that had fallen into it and Ty could not stop laughing.   
“You did not just do that.” Kit said with a murderous look in his eyes. His face had lost the softness it had earlier and his voice was hard. He looked personally affronted that the egg had fallen on his head, like Ty was responsible.  
“Hey, Kit, I’m sorry it wasn’t my fault, I didn’t know that was going to happen.” Ty tried to explain himself, but Kit wasn’t hearing it.   
“You ruined this on purpose, didn’t you?” Kit gestured to the both of them, Ty on top of Kit and Kit’s hand still resting gently on Ty’s hip.  
“What? No, why would I do that?” Ty asked, genuinely confused. Ruin what?   
“You wouldn’t understand.” Kit said. It was the wrong thing to say.  
“I wouldn’t understand what? Should I add it to the list of things I have that I will ‘never understand?’ Is it something only normal people understand, and that’s why I won’t? Is that what you’re saying? Because I don’t think the same way as everyone else, I’m automatically stupid? Is that what you think? I thought you were different Kit. I thought you saw me as the same as everyone else. I should have known that you think I’m too different. You’re just like everyone else, treating me differently for the way I am. God, I’m so tired of being treated differently for something I don’t have any control over. You know what, just leave. Just, get out. I don’t want to know what else I supposedly ‘wouldn’t understand.’” Ty drew a hand over his weary face and climbed off of Kit’s body.  
Kit’s face was heartbroken, sad and guilty. And even though Ty didn’t want to admit it, he saw pity in his expression too. Pity was the worst. Guilt, sadness, he could deal with, but pity was something he hated.  
“Ty, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that at all-” Kit tried to explain himself, but Ty was fed up.  
“Leave Kit!” He shouted. He pointed at the door and looked away from his friend.   
Kit stood up hesitantly, like he was waiting for Ty to change his mind. They had fought about this before, when Kit had accidentally said one of Ty’s “trigger words,” but it had blown over quickly. They had never shouted at each other, or left the other one angry.  
“Ty.” Kit said brokenly. He hated seeing his friend in anguish over something he had stupidly said, knowing it was his fault.  
Ty wouldn’t look at him though. Just kept pointing his finger at the door.   
Slowly, Kit started walking towards it, looking back every so often to see if Ty would call him back.   
He didn’t.  
Ty let him go, and Kit left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!


	3. Battlefield

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ty and Kit on the battlefield.

The alarm was sounding and Ty had never thought about it before, but he realized now that the pitch and duration of the noise was exactly what he imagined it would feel like if someone had ripped his heart out.  
Because now Kit was going to be in the fight as well.  
Ty silently cursed to himself because he knew if he spoke it would be something along the lines of “strawberries” and he couldn’t afford to be embarrassed right then.  
He had demons to kill and Kit to look after.  
Quickly and effortlessly he stashed his weapons in his gear, some knives and seraph blades in his boots and a sword strapped to his back and a crossbow over his shoulder because one could never be too prepared for a demon attack. Then he dashed out of the weapons room in search for Kit, because that bloody idiot could never learn how to wait. Then he dashed back into the weapons room because Kit was probably not armed and probably thought he was an invincible bastard.  
With more seraph blades in his various sheaths, Ty headed out of the Institute, knowing that Kit would be at the center of the fight.  
And sure enough, there he was. Dodging demons left and right, constantly on the defensive because he had no weapons or gear to speak of, in fact he was wearing simple cotton pants and nothing else. He looked like he had just gotten out of bed. In fact, Ty glanced at his watch, 10:45, he had just gotten out of bed.  
Cursing everything he had ever believed in, Ty jogged over to the swarm of demons and attempted to save Kit’s life by killing all the demons he could get close enough to swipe with a seraph blade. Not that he would ever admit that he had saved Kit’s life, because that would imply that Kit needed saving, and Kit would swear on his dying breath that he never needed saving he could save himself thank you very much.  
Shaking his head at his imaginary Kit, Ty lost sight of the real Kit for a split second and felt his heart go into cardiac arrest. He couldn’t see the half-naked Shadowhunter anywhere. And he couldn’t go looking for his maybe dying body, because he had at least three more demons he needed to maim/kill before it was safe to turn his back and search for his friend.  
Ty tried to dispatch the demons quickly and efficiently, but he had never been the type to do anything quickly and efficiently. He got distracted much too easily for that.  
He dodged and ducked and thrust and jabbed and spun and hacked until his arms felt like lead and his heart was in his mouth. Kit had still not reappeared and Ty was desperately praying to any angel that would listen for his safety.  
After many near misses in regards to his death, Ty killed the last demon and immediately began scouring the surrounding area for his friend.  
Due to their numerous lessons with Diana (even though Kit usually fell asleep and Ty had to recount the lesson to him in a more fun way, usually with rewards like an hour on the computer) Kit knew that if he was injured severely, he should try to drag himself to a secluded area away from demons who would not hesitate in killing an unarmed, wounded Shadowhunter. Kit was rebellious and most of the time thought that rules didn’t apply to him, but Ty knew he knew the importance of staying safe while injured.  
So Ty looked under every bush he came across, keeping his eye out for the tell-tale signs of blood on the grass, and torn between wanting Kit to be there, and worrying what it meant if Kit wasn’t there.  
While fighting the demons, Ty hadn’t noticed that his pants leg had been torn open by most likely a demon’s claw or his own knife (Ty was embarrassingly clumsy) and only now felt the trickle of blood running down his leg. Pausing for a second to glare at his leg, as if reprimanding it for choosing to bleed at this most inopportune time, Ty tried to wipe up the blood while still briskly walking, not wanting to waste a single moment that he could have been using for Kit.  
Ty had searched the entire area around the demon attack before he remembered that if Kit had dragged himself anywhere, it would be near the Institute because he knew that demons couldn’t enter the blessed ground.  
Cursing himself and his stupidity that might have cost Kit his life, Ty trekked back to the Institute at record speed, crashing through the grass and feeling the twinge in his left leg that meant it was bleeding more.  
“Kit!” He shouted, not wanting to waste any more valuable time. Ty limped over to a portion of bush that looked like it had been recently disturbed.  
“Kit.” He sobbed. His friend was unconscious, lying flat on his back with his leg bent at a painful angle and blood coating his hands from where he had tried to staunch the blood leaking from the gash on his side.  
“Oh my god Kit.” Ty wailed, his hands fluttering, unsure of where to go and scared of staying still. He had taken first aid classes because he knew he would always be the sensible one and no one else would bother with it. But now, faced with the very real scenario of a bleeding person in front of him, he found he had no idea where to start, and all his training and studying had gone flying out the window.  
Feeling the start of a panic attack, Ty forced himself to calm down and take stock of the situation. Focus on the details, that’s what Julian always said when Ty started to freak out. Don’t look at the whole, scary picture, make it smaller and more manageable. Ty took a big shuddery breath and started taking inventory. He figured that the bleeding gash would need to be disinfected and wrapped before anything. Nodding, Ty set about drawing every rune he could think of that would help clean out the gunk from the wound. His hand was shaking, but the runes were strong.  
After multiple healing and cleaning runes placed on every available piece of skin he could reach, and copious lengths of gauze and bandages he had packed in his gear for this precise reason, Ty felt reasonably safe that Kit would not die of blood loss.  
But there was still the broken leg. Ty had always been repulsed by broken bones, mostly because he couldn’t fathom the amount of force that would have to be exerted in order to break a human bone. Also the pain of the force needed to break a human bone.  
But this was Kit. Ty had let him down too many times today, and he wasn’t about to let him down again.  
Gritting his teeth, Ty steeled himself and reached out to set the bone when he remembered pain. He had almost forgotten about pain runes. He had almost set his friend’s bone without pain runes. Ty could shoot himself in the eye, how could he have forgotten about the most basic of runes? It was one of the first runes a Shadowhunter learned. And Ty had almost subjected his friend to the worst pain he could think of.  
Shaking and really doubting himself now, Ty clumsily sketched the rune onto Kit’s skin several times until he was sure that Kit would not feel more than a twinge. Ty couldn’t help feeling that he had missed something else, so he thought about everything he could remember from his first aid classes about broken bones and pain and shock.  
There was nothing else he could do for Kit, except set the bone. And Ty was just stalling.  
Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Ty forced himself to place his hands on Kit’s leg, determined to do this one thing right for Kit because Kit most definitely would do it for Ty.  
Steeling himself for the inevitable sickening crunch, Ty tensed his muscles and twisted.  
Crack.  
Ty felt bile rise in his throat at the sound, and fought for control over his gag reflex. The bone was set, but he needed a splint to keep the bone in the right place.  
He would have preferred to do this in the infirmary, actually he would have preferred to have someone else entirely perform this duty, but his older siblings were at an “important Clave meeting” concerning the “misbehaving Downworlders,” and the younger ones would be of no help anyways, even if they were here.  
So he was on his own, completely out of his depth and liable to make a fatal mistake while attempting to help his one and only friend out of a situation Ty had gotten him into.  
Wanting to cry, Ty set about looking for a suitable branch that would serve as an impromptu splint.  
About five yards away and several wiped away tears later, Ty found what he was looking for. He hobbled over to Kit, and quickly wrapped bandages around the broken leg and the splint.  
Nodding at his handiwork, Ty wondered about how he was going to get Kit back inside. Ty was smaller than Kit in more ways than one, and Kit was always the winner when they wrestled because of his immense body mass.  
But Ty owed it to his friend to make sure he was safe and not dying. So he draped one of Kit’s arms over his shoulder and attempted to drag him up the stairs into the Institute down the hall to the left and deposit him onto the bed in the infirmary.  
After many grunts and a lot of sweat, Ty managed to get Kit into somewhat of an upright position in the infirmary bed.  
“Strawberries, strawberries, straw to the berries,” Ty hummed to himself. He was very frustrated and since it was only him and an unconscious Kit in the room, Ty had no problem with releasing the tension in the form of weird, nonsensical words.  
“Okay. You’re in a bed, you have a splint, and I wrapped your wound. Now, wake up.” Ty said to an oblivious Kit. He flopped into the chair placed on the side of the bed and tried to channel his energy into Kit and wake him up via telekinesis.  
It didn’t work.  
Worked up and about to cry, Ty leaned his head on Kit’s unmoving chest and tried to quell the worry and anxiety that was choking him.  
“Why won't you just wake up?” He asked brokenly. He felt tears starting to form in the corners of his eyes and tried to squeeze them away. It was a futile attempt.  
“Is there a specific reason why my shirt is wet?” Said the lump under his head.  
“Kit! Holy shit you're awake thank the Angel I thought you weren't going to wake up and I tried everything and I'm sorry it was supposed to be me and you weren't supposed to get hurt and I'm sorry-” Ty was cut off by strong arms around his torso.  
“Thank you.” Kit said simply into the crook of Ty’s neck. Now Ty was letting the tears fall freely and they ran down his face and Kit’s shirt absorbed the liquid.  
“Jesus Christ don't scare me like that again.” Ty said. Kit had noticed that Ty had started cursing in mundane terms when he was upset.  
“Hey man, I'm okay. I'm right here, I'm good.” Kit didn't know why Ty was making such a big dealing of this. Shadowhunters got hurt all the time. This was no different than the time Livvy got hurt just last month.  
“I just, it was my fault and you would have, would have-and I just couldn't live with myself because I was that careless with your life.” Ty mumbled into Kit’s shirt.  
Kit raised Ty’s head up so he could look him in the eye. “Hey don't you ever blame yourself for something you couldn't have prevented.” He said forcefully.  
“But I could have done something, I could have been better,” Ty said brokenly. He couldn’t bring himself to look Kit in the eye. He had always had trouble with looking at people’s eyes because there was so much there. So many emotions and confusing feelings that Ty couldn’t deal with.  
Kit’s fingers absentmindedly stroked Ty’s cheekbone. Ty shivered. His eyes fluttered shut and his breath would only come in short bursts. He tried to focus on something, anything other than the way Kit’s fingertips were dancing along his skin, but failed miserably. His eyes darted between Kit’s eyes and his lips, wanting to take in both and not wanting to miss anything.  
Ty leaned into the gentle touch and eased himself closer to Kit, never taking his eyes off his face.  
“What the hell is going on here?” came from the door. Surprised and embarrassed, Ty jumped away from Kit, even though they weren’t doing anything wrong. Somehow Ty didn’t think anyone would understand them.  
“Ty? What’s going on?” Julian said from the doorway. He looked confused and suspicious. One of his eyebrows arched up so high it disappeared into his hairline.  
“Strawberries.” Ty said, then cursed in his mind. He always did this.  
“Nothing Julian. Ty was just taking care of me. Had a bit of a run in with a demon earlier, but we’re okay. No need to worry.” Kit said smoothly. His hand had snapped down to his side he minute he heard Julian’s voice and he had moved his aching body as far away from Ty’s as he could. Julian wouldn’t understand and Kit didn’t want Ty to feel embarrassed.  
“Okay. I’m sorry we couldn’t be there. The Clave is something we can’t escape though.” Julian said, but he wasn’t only talking about the meeting they had been to.  
“You are so right. Well, I should probably get some rest. Thanks Ty for fixing me up.” Kit said letting everyone know that it was time to leave. Julian got the hint and disappeared from the doorway with a sharp look at Kit.  
“Strawberries?” Ty said again. Dammit. He had meant to ask Kit what the hell had just happened.  
“I’ll talk to you later Ty. I’m just really tired. All that talking and healing has taken a toll. I’m just gonna sleep for a while.” KIt said.  
He turns on his side and Ty thinks about all the other times Kit has left and realizes that being ignored is much worse than simply being left behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! Sorry for the delay.


	4. Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ty and Kit in the library.

Ty knew what he was doing this time.  
He was entirely aware of every place his body was touching Kit’s body.  
First, his shoulders. Ty was smaller than Kit, so the top of Ty’s shoulders reached a few inches below Kit’s. It shouldn’t have mattered, but Ty loved those few inches. He loved being slightly shorter than Kit. When they hugged (not that it was often) Ty’s face was directly in Kit’s chest, and he could hear his heartbeat and Kit’s arms went around Ty’s shoulders and enveloped him in a bear hug. Ty decided he liked it infinitely better than when Julian hugged him, even though Julian had a few inches on Ty as well. Ty didn’t really want to figure out why hugging Kit was different than hugging his brother. It just felt wrong to compare Kit and Julian.  
Second, his arms. Their forearms were also touching, because it was hard to touch shoulders and not touch arms. Ty could feel the heat radiating off Kit’s body and he loved it. Kit’s body was always like a furnace, hot and spreading everywhere. Ty, on the other hand was like a heat sucker, drawing the heat from other people and using it for himself. They balanced each other very nicely like that. Ty liked to touch shoulders with Kit when he was cold, and even though Kit bitched about it all the time, Ty thought he secretly loved it, because whenever Ty said he was cold, Kit would sigh and move closer to warm him up.  
Third, their hips. This was the most distracting one. Ty could feel the slight poke of Kit’s hip bone against his fleshy thigh, because Ty was almost in Kit’s lap (also distracting) and therefore a little higher up than Kit. (Thank the Angel Ty’s shoulders were still lower than Kit’s, even when in his lap.) Every time Kit shifted his lower body, Ty felt his hip bone digging into his leg and it took all his self-control not to shift his own body to get the same feeling.  
Fourth, their pinkies. Probably anyone other than Ty would immediately overlook such a position, but Ty catalogued everything. It made him happy to list things, and he couldn’t leave something off of the list, so pinkies were there. Ty had seen many movies where the two love interests (which were almost never two guys, but whatever) were walking and they tried to hold each other’s hands by casually brushing fingers. Ty had always thought that was the dumbest thing ever. Just hold their goddamn hands! He wanted to say to the characters. If they were constantly brushing hands, obviously they both felt the same, so hold hands already. But now, sitting with Kit, Ty understood the purpose of the grazing fingers. The contact made Ty’s heart pound and he wasn’t even fully holding Kit’s hand. He couldn’t wait until he could.  
Fourth, their ankles. Okay, so almost their entire legs were touching, but Ty wanted to focus on their ankles. They were sitting in one chair, with Ty half on Kit’s lap, and their legs were intertwined and Ty couldn’t tell where Kit’s legs began and where his own began. Their ankles were crossed with (what he thought were) the other one’s ankles, and Ty couldn’t think of a better way to sit in a chair.  
They were laughing and joking around with each other, which wasn’t anything new. They had always had a very humorous relationship, with insults turned to jokes and jabs meant to be funny. But this, in the chair was new.  
Ty had always been careful about not touching Kit more than was appropriate. Ty craved physical attention and grazes like he needed air to breath, but he wasn’t sure how Kit would take it, so he had held himself back from overly touching his friend. Nothing more than an occasional, accidental shoulder graze while walking through the halls of the Institute together, or an accidental hand brush as Ty handed Kit his plate of food, or the not quite accidental foot bump as they were watching a movie in Kit’s room.  
But now, in the chair, Ty couldn’t help himself. When Kit laughed at something Ty had said, Ty reached out and carefully let his fingers dance on Kit’s arms to let himself know that Kit was real and here with Ty. When Ty threw his head back to laugh at Kit’s antics, he flung his arm out to anchor himself to Kit. And when they calmed down and had nothing to say, Ty slowly and hesitantly lowered his head to rest on Kit’s broad shoulders.  
Surrounded by books and Kit’s arms, Ty couldn’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon.  
Of course, he would have to go and ruin it, just like he ruined everything with Kit.  
They had been looking at a particularly boring book on sleep patterns. Kit had picked it out because of the bright blue cover.  
They often played this game, one of them would pick out a (seemingly) interesting book, and they would read it together. Ty loved it, and Kit merely tolerated it because it was reading and reading was not as good as actually living it. But Kit loved hanging out with Ty, so reading was a small price to pay for Ty’s company.  
They were laughing at a description of narcolepsy when Ty reached out to touch Kit’s arm, like he always did when he laughed. Except this time, instead of simply allowing Ty’s hand to rest there, Kit leaned into the touch like a starving man to food. It seemed like an unconscious move, and so far, Kit hadn’t realized what he’d done, but Ty knew exactly what he had done.  
Exhilarated, because this maybe meant that Ty could touch Kit more, Ty moved his body so he was wrapping his arms around Kit’s whole frame.  
And again, Kit nuzzled into Ty’s body. There wasn’t any other word for it. This time though, Kit knew what he was doing, and still chose to move closer to Ty despite the fear of rejection coursing through his body.  
The cause for their laughing had long since been forgotten, and laughter seemed the farthest thing from their minds. Neither of them dared to move, lest they disrupt the careful mood they had created.  
Ty's hands moved themselves achingly slowly, inching them up up up until they found a home in Kit’s feather soft hair. Ty had always been a very physical person, getting reassurance and calmness from touching, whether it was the pipe cleaners or holding onto someone’s shoulders for an anchor. It was the same with Kit, but somehow different. Ty didn't feel reassured by touching Kit, he was more nervous than ever and his heart was thumping and his whole body felt very shaky, like it was jacked up on caffeine. It wasn't a bad feeling. In fact Ty loved it.  
Kit slowly inhaled, and Ty felt the breath leave his body, not because Kit was breathing, but he literally stole Ty’s breath. Ty finally understood the phrase takes my breath away.  
Then Kit let out the air.  
Holy  
Shit.  
Ty’s eyes fluttered close because the feeling of Kit being that close and yet that far away was torture and yet Ty wanted more of it.  
Ty also wanted Kit to lose his everlasting composure, just like Ty always did when they were this close.  
Experimentally, Ty breathed a little hard air onto Kit’s lips to see if Kit reacted the same way Ty did. Just to torture him the same way Ty was always being tortured.  
And Kit moaned. It wasn't a groan or a sigh or even a deep breath. Ty knew it was classified as a moan because once he had ventured into the wrong part of the Internet. He tried not to think about it often, but couldn't help imagining Kit like that. Then his eyes would widen and his cheeks would heat up and he would feel embarrassed and sick for thinking of things like that.  
Immediately Kit tensed up and his cheeks turned bright cherry red and he leaped off of the sofa and Ty suddenly found himself looking quite foolish, attempting to caress thin air.  
“What-” Kit cleared his throat because his voice was embarrassingly deep and throaty. Ty moaned in his head at the sound.  
“What are we doing?” Kit asked, half laughing and half cringing.  
“I’m not entirely sure.” Ty said. Well he said it in his head.  
“Strawberries.” He said outloud. Damn it. His mouth never listened to his brain.  
“I don’t know either Ty.” Kit said. Ty blushed and looked down at his hands, embarrassed that Kit knew him so well. None of his siblings could ever figure out what he meant when he just repeated nonsense words when he was flustered.  
Suddenly Kit looked about a thousand years old. His face was drawn and weary, and he rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes, exhausted and confused.  
Ty didn’t know what had happened to cause the change in age appearance, but he was almost definitely sure that it somehow had something to do with him.  
“Strawberries.” Ty said again, then cursed silently in his head. Why did he have to be such a complete screw-up when it came to communicating?  
Kit looked up at that, and Ty could see the sadness lurking in his eyes. Ty silently asked with his eyes what was wrong, but Kit refused to answer.  
“I have stuff to do.” Kit said without preamble. He jumped to his feet, paused and looked at Ty with those hurt eyes, then shook his head and walked out.  
Ty remembered all the times Kit had left him alone and confused, and wondered what it would take for Kit to stay for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double chapter for being so late :/ Let me know what you think!


	5. Basketball game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ty and Kit at a basketball game.

The excitement pounding it’s way through Ty’s body was exhilarating and new and different and he had never felt this way about anything before, not even books. There was screaming and shouting and stuff was moving but he couldn’t really keep his eye on it and people were moving and everything was in pandemonium and sweat was everywhere and so was the smell of hot dogs and fries.  
Next to him, Kit was screaming so loud his face was cherry red and the forgotten drink in his hand spilled it’s liquid every time it was moved abruptly. Ty’s forgotten hamburger hung limply in his own hand and every once in awhile he would distractedly bring it up to his mouth for a bite then realize something had happened on the court and it would be forgotten again.  
“No, the ball’s over there you-oh wait he’s got it, he’s got it Ty! No, shoot from there no stop moving you absolute-no why’d you pass it you could have made it from there, I could have made it from there. Honestly. They should just recruit me to play basketball. These guys are terrible.” Kit said, mostly to himself, still with his eyes glued on the game.  
Ty had no idea what Kit was trying to say, as he hadn’t finished any of his sentences, but figured he wasn’t expected to respond, as Kit had been doing this for the whole game.  
For his part, Ty was content to simply watch the game, without any commentary, but Kit didn’t seem capable of keeping his opinions to himself. Not that Ty cared. On the contrary, Ty loved when Kit spoke out loud to him; he liked to learn things about his best friend.  
Having never seen a basketball game before, Ty didn’t know where exactly to look. There was so much happening on the court, and there was Kit next to him, shouting and moving and brushing against his arm in the most distracting way, and there were the players, running and bustling around, and there was the ball, being thrown about and shot into a basket. So Ty settled his gaze on his friend gesturing wildly next to him. Originally Ty had paid at least a little attention to the game, but after realizing he knew next to nothing about it and could therefore not understand the full meaning of what was even happening on the court, he switched to looking at Kit, which he could understand a bit better. So far, Kit had yet to notice Ty’s heavy gaze on him, which was helpful as Ty didn’t have a valid excuse as to why he was staring at his very straight best friend. But, of course, things just couldn’t have gone Ty’s way.  
“Hey did you see that awesome play Ty? It was one of the only ones they made that actually made sense. Wait, why aren’t you looking? Have you been paying attention at all?” Kit turned to look at Ty and finally noticed his eyes.  
“No, I didn’t see the awesome play. I was paying attention, but I don’t know anything about basketball so I stopped.” Ty said simply. He decided not to touch on the fact that he had been staring at his best friend. But, of course Kit had to notice only that fact.  
“Well why were you looking at me?” Kit said, in a voice unlike the accusatory one he had been using earlier. Ty had never heard him use it, except on those rare occasions when they were a little too close to be considered casual.  
“Uh. Strawberries.” Ty said, inwardly cursing that now of all times he couldn’t speak intelligently.  
“Okay. We’re talking about this after the game though.” Kit said, with the look in his eyes that said Ty was definitely not getting out of this one. Dammit.  
Kit immediately turned his attention back to the game, and Ty tried to as well, but couldn’t help but risk small, quick glances at his friend. Eventually, Ty gave up trying to be subtle about it, and gazed at Kit.  
Ty was vaguely aware of what was going on with the game, as he was listening to Kit’s rants and incomplete sentences, but was too focused on Kit’s face to realize when the game was going to end.  
The only warning he had were Kit’s screams.  
“Holy shit Ty, did you see that?! Did you fucking see that shot? Dude, that shot was fucking amazing-I can’t believe he made that shot!” Kit exclaimed. Ty could see the excitement and exhilaration coursing through Kit’s body.  
Suddenly Kit leaned forwards towards Ty and before he had a chance to react, Kit’s hands were on his face and their bodies were pressed flush together. Ty sucked in a breath and edged closer to his friend, placing his foot closer to the other’s body.  
And promptly slipped and fell into the people sitting below them.  
“Hey, fuck off we’re sitting here!” said the man whose lap Ty was currently in.  
“Sorry.” Ty said quietly, his face flaming red with embarrassment and humiliation. He struggled to remove himself from the man, but found whenever he tried to lift his leg over the seat and back into his, it got tangled in the man’s drink, hot dog, wife; basically everywhere it wasn’t supposed to go.  
And Kit was no help either.  
He was currently standing with his eyes and mouth wide open, staring in disbelief at the situation at hand. Which Ty thought was weird because it wasn’t as if Ty had never embarrassed himself in a public setting before. Really, this shouldn’t have been so surprising. Ty was a clumsy, socially awkward, shy, stumbling mess of a person. And Kit-wasn’t.  
“A little help here?” Finally Ty asked, tired of struggling by himself. Suddenly, Kit snapped out of whatever he was doing and surged forward to pick Ty up from the enraged fan in front of them.  
“Sorry about that. I guess I slipped and fell.” Ty said to the floor. His cheeks were flaming and he could feel the rest of his body start to warm up too. Dammit he hated full-body blushes.  
Kit still hadn’t said a word to him, but now they were holding hands, so that was definitely an improvement.  
Ty couldn’t help but feel he had majorly screwed up everything. He had finally realized what he wanted from Kit, and recognized when he wanted it, and he always had to screw it up at the last possible second, probably making Kit think he didn’t want it after all.  
Kit shook his head as if to wave of Ty’s never-ending apologies, like he was used to. “No, it’s okay. I don’t know why I did that anyway.” Ty’s face fell. He had thought that maybe Kit had finally wanted what he himself wanted, but no. Kit did not want Ty like that.  
Sucking in the disappointment and shame burning through him, Ty turned his attention back to the court, intent on not looking at Kit for the rest of the game.  
If he had looked back though, he would have seen the unrestrained want on Kit’s face. Kit finally realized that being ignored is much worse than simply being left behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another chapter because I feel bad for being so late. Only one more chapter to go. Let me know what you think!


	6. They actually do it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the one time they actually get their acts together and kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay last chapter

Ty was bored.  
And thinking.  
Which was an awful combination.  
Especially when he was thinking about Kit.  
And how much he wanted to kiss him.  
There.  
It was out.  
Ty wanted to kiss Kit.  
It had taken a lot for him to arrive at this conclusion, and even more time before he was ready to examine all those too close encounters with Kit when it had almost happened. Ty’s heart had been hurt when he realized that every single time something almost happened, Kit backed out and ran away. But then he stepped back and tried to look at it objectively (like Julian always said) and realized that Kit was possibly going through the same things Ty was. Maybe Kit didn’t know if Ty wanted to kiss him. (Which was ridiculous; even before Ty knew he wanted to kiss Kit, he had unconsciously wanted to kiss Kit.) Or maybe Kit was still shocked from wanting a boy instead of a girl. (Ty didn’t really have that problem because he had grown up with stories about Magnus and Alec over in New York, and especially now that Mark was back and dating Kieran.)  
So it was reasonable, if not preferable, to think that Kit had wanted to kiss Ty and just didn’t have enough courage. Which was also ridiculous because Kit was the most courageous person Ty had ever known. (Other than Emma.)  
So it was also reasonable to assume that if Kit never got his act together, (and judging by the amount of data Ty had on Kit and running away, it seemed he never would) then it would just have to be Ty who made the first move.  
And that takes the cake for the most astonishing realization of Ty’s entire life (even more than the one where he realized he wanted to kiss Kit).  
Ty would be the first to admit that he wasn’t the bravest Shadowhunter. In fact, Ty regularly thought of himself as a sit it out kind of fighter. He wasn’t reckless with himself (after all, someone had to look after Livvy), and he didn’t take unnecessary risks (cough Emma cough). Ty wasn’t one to put himself in harm’s way unless it meant he would be protecting someone he cared about.  
So, he was just gonna have to suck it up and kiss Kit on his goddamn lips.  
That also scared Ty.  
He didn’t know the first thing about kissing someone.  
So he looked it up.  
And it was a mistake.  
Resolving never to trust the Internet again, Ty wondered who he could ask for help. Julian, but he would adopt the older brother attitude and insist that Ty wait until he was older. None of the younger ones would be of any help either. Emma might help him, but she would go blab to Julian and that wouldn’t be good. Mark would be able to help though. Boys’ mouths had to be different from girls’ right?  
With that resolve, Ty marched out of his bedroom in search of Mark.  
He eventually found his older brother in the sanctuary.  
“Mark?” Ty called out. Mark’s head turned around to meet his younger brother.  
“Hey Ty. What’s up?” Mark’s eyes were piercing. Ty was surprised Mark didn’t already know why he was here; his eyes could probably see into his soul.  
“Uh, I need some advice,” he said cautiously, now doubting himself. What if Mark laughed in his face? What if he didn’t take him seriously?  
“About?” God this conversation was taking forever and Ty hadn’t even started.  
“Okay, say there was this boy,” Ty started off, “and say I wanted to kiss this boy. What would I do?” There. That went well. Now Mark would just give him advice, and he wouldn’t even have to know it was about Kit.  
But Mark got a look in his eye that said he knew exactly what Ty was trying to get at.  
“Well, you like this boy, right?” Mark asked. Ty nodded his head. “And does this boy like you?” Ty started to nod his head, then thought better of it and simply shrugged. Did Kit like him?  
“I think so?” Ty said. Now he wasn’t really sure.  
“Okay, so. Here’s what you do. When you and this boy are alone, someplace quiet, you look into his eyes. Edge closer and closer together, slowly so he has time to think about what he wants, and put your hands on his face. Now, here’s the part that’s a little tricky. You’re still looking into his eyes, but you must very deliberately look down at his lips for a quick second. That’s kind of a social cue that means hey I want to kiss you now. Once he has no doubts as to what you want, you lean closer and closer to his face. Then, close your eyes and voila. The deed is done.” Mark threw his hands up in the air like he had achieved something.  
“But how do I actually kiss him? Like, what do I do with my lips and everything?” Ty asked, exasperated.  
“Well that’s kind of not something I want to discuss with my baby brother,” Mark said, ruffling Ty’s hair a bit.  
“That’s completely unhelpful Mark,” Ty stated.  
“Okay, wait a second. So, you’ve seduced him, and now you’re ready to seal the deal. Just touch your lips to his, kind of pursed, like this,” Mark demonstrated, “then stay there for a few seconds, and move away. Done.”  
Ty didn’t really think that was how kissing really worked. He raised his eyebrows at Mark.  
“Okay so maybe that was a very chaste kind of kiss. It works though, for a first kiss. After you get the hang of that, you can get a little fancier, and throw in tongue and stuff. But save that for when you’re older,” Mark said. Great, now he was turning into Julian.  
“Mark, I just don’t want to screw this up,” Ty said, a little insecurely.  
“Hey, listen to me Ty. If you really like this boy, and I bet he really likes you too, then you probably can’t do much to screw it up. He’s probably just as nervous as you, and you’ll learn together, okay?” Mark patted his shoulder and got up and left, leaving Ty alone with his thoughts.  
After much deliberation, and a few almost panic attacks, Ty felt he was ready to confront Kit with his feelings.  
With a determined set of his shoulders, Ty marched over to Kit’s room. Squaring himself in front of the door, Ty gathered all of his courage, all his feelings, and bursted into the room.  
Kit was there, on the bed, eating candy and ice cream. But Ty didn’t see any of that first. He noticed Kit was shirtless. Momentarily losing his nerve, Ty stumbled a bit, but quickly set himself on the right path again.  
He confidently strode over to Kit, whose eyes were wide and confused.  
Ty took a deep breath, like he was preparing to dive underwater, grabbed Kit’s shoulders to anchor himself, leaned down, and smashed his lips against Kit’s.  
He calmly let go of Kit, waited a beat for Kit to say anything.  
“Well? Aren’t you gonna say something?” Ty asked. He had thought that the kiss would trigger something in Kit.  
“Gah.” Kit said intelligently. His eyes were still wide open, and he looked frozen in shock.  
“You wanted that right?” Ty said, starting to get a little worried. What if he misread this entire situation? How socially inept could he be?  
“Uh.” Kit said, still unable to make actual words. Ty rolled his eyes at him, because Kit has never been able to shut up, and now, when Ty actually needs a response, Kit is unable to provide. Figures.  
“Listen, I kind of need to know how you feel about this whole thing. Like, now would be nice,” Ty stuttered out, now absolutely sure that he had embarrassed himself beyond belief. Ty could never show his face to Kit again. He’d have to completely isolate himself from his family, because how could he ever face them again once they found out? He’d never hear the end of it. He’d have to move away from the Institute, and possibly give up his runes as a Shadowhunter, and be on the run for the rest of his life. How would he manage? He barely had any skill as a fighter, he couldn’t defend himself from the multitude of demons that were sure to attack a lonely Shadowhunter. He’d need to get help, but from who? He didn’t have any contacts like Julian and Emma did, he’d have to-  
“Do it again.”  
No that’s not what he was going to have to do. He was going to have to-  
“Do it again.”  
Okay that time it definitely wasn’t Ty speaking.  
“Ty I swear to the angel if you don’t come over here and kiss the hell out of me I will never speak to you ever again.”  
Well that settled it.  
Ty turned around and saw that Kit had unfrozen and looked completely wrecked. And Ty hadn’t even done anything yet.  
Ty started to unsteadily walk over to the bed and lean down to Kit’s face again.  
“Wait, we can do better.” Kit said, getting up from the bed. Ty started to frown, but then realized Kit had taken his hand and figured worse things could have happened, so he decided to go along with whatever Kit had planned.  
Kit lead them to the center of the room, facing each other. He brought them closer together, framing Ty’s face with his hands. Kit’s hands on his skin burnt and tingled. Their faces were close, so close Ty rested his forehead against Kit’s. Ty’s hands unconsciously gravitated towards Kit’s hips. Kit’s skin under his hands felt hot, unbearably hot. Everything in the room was hot. Ty’s face felt like it was going to burn off, and he imagined it couldn’t be a healthy shade of red. He could feel every part of Kit touching him and he never wanted it to stop.  
“Okay. We’re gonna try this again. And this time, you are not going to smash your head against mine, and I will actually contribute. Sound good?” Kit whispered against Ty’s lips. They were so close Ty could feel every breath Kit took. This was infinitely better than anything Ty had thought would happen when he walked into Kit’s room.  
Even with the admission that they both wanted this, there was still an element of hesitation. They both leaned infinitesimally closer to each other, breathing in each other’s air.  
Ty unconsciously opened his mouth, and Kit did the same.  
Kit’s hands clenched ever so slightly against Ty’s face and then they were kissing.  
At first Ty didn’t know what’s going on because it was so different from their first kiss.  
It was soft, and pleasant, not hard and demanding like the first time was. Ty’s face heated up even more at the thought of that failed attempt, and resolved to never think of it again.  
Instead he focused on the way Kit’s lips were moving against his own. It definitely didn’t end up the way Mark told him it would. Kit got really into it, really fast, moving his lips, opening his mouth, introducing tongue.  
Ty responded eagerly.  
He latched onto Kit's skin, itching for him to get closer. When Kit’s hands reached up and buried themselves in Ty’s hair, he moaned. Ty wasn’t sure who moaned, but he wouldn’t have been surprised if it was him. Then Kit was doing something with his hips and he couldn’t think any more.  
After three minutes, or three years, they broke apart. Their lips were red and swollen, and their breaths were heavy.  
“Was that what I was running away from?” Kit asked, more to himself than Ty.  
“Strawberries,” Ty said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> I will try to update at least once a week, but...you know how it goes. Let me know what you think!


End file.
